Aquaponics Self cleaning swirl filter revisited

One of the many people named Anonymous took the time to comment on my self cleaning swirl filter, so I thought Id revisit the topic with some thoughts Ive been having.

For the last few weeks Ive been thinking of getting some more fish.

And Ive also been thinking about developing the self cleaning swirl filter a little more.

My original design was to tap off a small amount of clean water for NFT tubes employing the self cleaning filter to keep the roots from collecting solids and blocking the NFT tubes. In the end I got around that by just taking my water from the sump, where there were no solids, but that required a better pump to get water to the top of the tubes. .


If this were ever to be implemented as a system to remove solids from a system rather than returning them to the grow beds it would need some adjustment.

Its easy to set up a container so that it is right at the point of tripping a siphon, but will never actually get there unless someone suddenly dumps water into it. With this in mind, one option I thought of  when I was playing with this idea, was to use a deer scarer...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shishi-odoshi

Set a dripping tap, so it slowly filled a deer scarer. The deer scarer should tip only once or twice a day, and should dump the same amount of water that the self cleaning swirl filter takes from the system each time its triggered.

Im going to build a deer scarer, and see how it works, then see if it really would take care of dosing the self cleaning filter with the correct amount of water to make it do its thing.

You can see my previous work on my self cleaning swirl filter here.

Read More..

Thailand vs America unexpected racism

Recently I have been looking into new breeds that are sort of making their way into the US. One that is catching my eye these days is the Thai ridgeback as seen in this picture to your left. The Thai ridgeback is one of three dogs with a ridgeback (basically a line of fur on their back that grows the opposite way) with the others being Rhodesian ridgeback and the Phu Quoc ridgeback.

So why my interest in this specific ridgeback? Well, its reputation is rather good compared to a similar breed. Lets see.

This dog...

*is very family oriented and will put itself in front of family

*loves children

*can be aggressive and EXTREMELY dangerous if put in the wrong hands

*hard headed but with a firm hand, will be an extremely loyal dog

Huh...this seems a lot like America and Britains three dogs often seen as the most dangerous dogs in the world.

you bet

American Pit Bull Terrier

American Staffordshire Terrier

Staffordshire Bull Terrier (obviously from Britain as it doesnt have America stamped in front of it)

So why is it these terrier breeds are "dangerous" but not a Thai ridgeback that has the same qualities? Possibly because it is rare?

The most dangerous dog in the world (as told by government study) is the Dalmation. However, Dalmations are allowed in rental properties and will NOT raise your insurance. huh...

Oh and btw more people are bitten by labs than APBTs, a breed BANNED in countries.

talk about racism.

Now if you arent a dog person then you probably will freak out at the thought of ALL DOGS ARE DANGEROUS but its true. Dogs are a dangerous animal just like horses are a dangerous animal. The thing is with horses, we dont ASSuME that cold blooded horses (like Shires) are more dangerous than hot blooded horses (like arabs) and vice versa. Theyre the same animal and can kill you if in the wrong hands. Why do we assume this with dogs? Yes there are dogs that will lunge if their family is in danger but NO WELL TRAINED DOG WILL BITE UNLESS THREATENED!!!

Sheesh people. So Stupid.

Read More..

Aquaponics Swirl filters for solids removal

Over the last few days, Ive been reading a stack of stuff on radial flow and swirl filters.

Heres what I think I know so far.

As far as I can tell a radial flow filter moves the water in a very gentle manner, first down then up. The solids stay at the bottom. It often does this by having a container inside another container. One container acts like a bucket, and the other is mounted upside down from the lid. You add water and solid waste into the centre top, where it gently moves down to under the rim of the upside down container. The water then rises up to exit near the top outside rim, leaving the solids behind at the bottom. A tap is placed at the bottom so you can remove the solids.

I think Im going with a swirl filter instead.

The swirl filter migrates solids towards the centre and the bottom, which should be the best position to remove them via a siphon. The path the solids take is a long one because the flow is circular due to the direction of flow on entry to the device. This allows more time for the solids to fall out of suspension (maybe).

So a swirl filter is a bucket with an inlet pipe mounted near the rim to introduce water and solid waste from the fish tank. The inlet tube is pointed in such a way as to make the water create a gentle whirlpool.

Normally, a tap is added to the bottom to remove the solids once collected.

As far as I can tell, a swirl filter changes the pressure of the water on the outside, making it higher than that of the centre due to its rotational ... disposition.

This pressure (and depth) difference means that the top is no longer the top as far as the poop goes. The poop now thinks the top outside edge is the new top, and the bottom centre is the new bottom. So the poop moves to the new bottom which is right where Il mount the bell siphon.

What all this means is that the poop is a little more committed to sinking than its normal, only slightly sinking self.

Its also more likely to settle out near the centre of the bottom of the swirl filter.

Instead of using a tap mounted through the bottom of the swirl filter, Ill be adding an auto siphon in an attempt to automate the dumping of the solids into a worm farm.

Read More..

Apples vs Pumpkins

I received terrible news today.

My boyfriends family doesnt like pumpkin! Now now I know it may not seem like a big deal but my family doesnt care for pumpkin either (maybe my dads side but they dont believe in eating anything possibly healthy.) What makes me more sad is that they love apples so nana (my boyfriends grandmother) is planning on making some apple pies.

BLECK

I live a few miles from a wonderful place called Apple Hill. Basically it is a crap ton of ranches that grow apples haha. Honestly, call me crazy but I love apple juice and cider...just not apples. This place produces the best apple cider ever! Anyway, we were talking about going up there sometime and maybe we could stop by a pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins.

I have never carved a jack-o-lantern

When I was little, I went to a friends house and we drew on pumpkins but I myself have never had my own jack-o-lantern or have ever carved one. I have also never had a real Christmas tree (more on that when Christmas/Yule rolls around.)

I dont believe in killing a plant or animal without using as most parts as possible so these pumpkins will be going a long way. Im inviting my brother over (who is 4) and hopefully we will get things done. Im not a fan of pie at all (unless it is mud pie or chocolate pudding pie) so what will we be doing?

? CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES ?

I really like these as you can tell. If all else fails, I will just give them to him for class if allowed. If not, I will just donate them to my friends church where kids still eat junk food. My brother goes to a Christian private school but they do not allow certain junk foods.

...and if all of that fails, I guess I will just get fat haha.

Anyway the wonderful world of Google has introduced me to apple cookies but Im not yet sure what I think about those. If anyone is reading this, how do these taste? How do you think theyd taste?

Read More..